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Small Place? More Space!
| Article
# : |
14420 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
6 / 1988 |
2,275 Words |
| Author
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John Elvin
John Elvin is a columnist for the Washington Times. He has
written extensively on housing topics for periodicals. |
The world is getting smaller, particularly with regard to living space. Rocketing land and building material prices have led residential developers to put more units on less land. When buying or renting a townhouse, an apartment, or even a single-family home, we often find that the word "affordable" has claustrophic connotations.
Many of us have to learn to live with less because we simply don't have room for more. Grandma's grand piano would consume the floor space of an entire room in some modern living quarters.
Recently I went in search of the secrets of attractive, comfortable, yet compact living. But I needed practical advice. My thoughts turned to Zen, an Oriental meeting ground of beauty and frugality. I put the matter to a friend, a carpenter and cabinetmaker who has spent quite a bit of time in Zen monasteries.
He recommended reading Katsura: Tradition and Creation in Japanese Architecture. This coffee-table-sized book by Kenzo Tange (with Walter Gropius), focusing on the details of the Katsura Palace in Japan, teaches what might be called "gestures." Even the smallest of the elegant Katsura Palace spaces offer harmony, serenity, and vitality.
In traditional Japanese architecture are principles that also apply to furnishing and decorating. According to Tange, the architecture was
...originally inspired by a personal experience or emotion, by the way something felt or looked or otherwise affected the senses. These sensations are organized
... (1996 of 13211 Characters)
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